Few sunglasses have occupied this sort of storied area in American culture and history as Ray Bans.

From Presidents to movie stars, rock stars to artists, fashion designers to runway models, there’s not really a generation alive that can’t remember owning (or seeking to own) a pair of these iconic sunglasses.

While Ray Bans now is seen around the next generation of Hollywood style setters, the famed sunglasses had a far more practical and humble beginning.

Founded in 1937 by Bausch & Lomb, the first Ray Ban sunglasses are intended to the United states Army Air Corp. The Army was looking for a sunglass to safeguard aviators from your damaging rays of your sun, but in addition a sunglass that will look elegant in the dashing airman throughout the day.

The very first sunglass to feature an anti-glare lens, the metal frame was extremely lightweight and produced from gold-plated metal with two green lenses that filtered out UV rays.

The Usa Army Air Corps pilots instantly took to the sunglasses, earning Ray-Bans the moniker “Aviator Glasses” — an expression which now describes all sunglasses with designs that are exactly like the very first Ray-Ban.

The Ray-Ban aviator achieved broader popularity during WWII, when General Douglas MacArthur was photographed in Ray-Ban aviator glasses landing in the beach from the Philippines.

From their pragmatic beginnings offering airman protection from the sun, Ray-Bans quickly became part of American fashion and popular culture when, in 1952, Ray Ban broke from traditional metal frames and created hard plastic frame called “The Ray-Ban Wayfarer.”

Now considered an innovative moment in eyewear design, the Wayfarer quickly gained popularity among both the fringe along with the well-heeled — crossing socio-economic and cultural borders — and fascinating to a mass market that included debutantes and beatniks.

Ironically, the initial Wayfarers were supposed to have been marketed to men … until women fell deeply in love with the sleek, shiny design that did actually flatter any model of face.

Soon the sunglasses begun to show up on everyone from Presidents and stylish women to folk musicians and East Village Hipsters. Wayfarers were got a PR increase in when Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly practically lived in her Wayfarers within the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

During the entire 50s and 60s, Ray Ban Wayfarers were the sunglass of choice for everyone from Bob Dylan, to Andy Warhol, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Roy Orbison, John Lennon and countless average American teenagers who just planned to look cool around the beach.

Ray-Bans popularity waned inside the Seventies as being the disco era ushered in extravagent eyewear, and designers like Dior and Yves St. Laurent entered the eyewear market.

Within the mid-70s, Ray-Ban introduced a brand of “disco” inspired sunglasses inside the mid-seventies, but it fell flat. However, a resurgence in popularity was only nearby.

In 1982, Ray-Ban appeared to be on the cusp of a revival. Their ray ban sale canada made a not-so-subtle appearance on John Belushi and Dan Akroyd in the The Blues Brothers movie. Despite wearing Ray Bans for a lot of the movie (Belushi actually only removes them once — when Carrie Fisher includes a rocket launcher directed at him), sales were still a paltry 18,000 pairs in 1980.

That most changed in 1982 when Ray-Ban signed a $50,000 each year contract to place Ray-Bans in movies and television shows. Between 1982 and 1987, Ray-Ban had placed their sunglasses in additional than 60 movies and tv shows.

A purchase paid back when Ray-Ban received their first big return because of Tom Cruise donning the classic Wayfarer in the 1983 coming-of-age movie Risky Business.

Suddenly, Ray-Bans were cool again along with the company could hardly keep its Wayfarers available.

In 1983, the organization sold a wonderful 360,000 pairs from the sunglasses. In the future years, Ray-Bans would happen in a series of 80s hits, including Miami Vice, Moonlighting, and also the Breakfast Club. Sales reached 1.5 million.

Inside the Eighties, Ray-Bans and Ray-Ban Wayfarers might be seen on everyone from Madonna to Michael Jackson, Elvis Costello, Morrissey, The Ramones, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, people in U2, along with other celebrities like Jack Nicholson and Vogue-Editor (and “The Devil Wears Prada” muse) Anna Wintour.

Through the 1990s, Ray-Ban yet again faced a slump as Grunge ditched the trends in the 80s and wrap-around sunglasses from manufacturers like Oakley became in-vogue. The organization attempted to kick-start sales by updating the frame’s styling, however they fell flat.”

In 2007, Ray-Ban re-introduced the very first Ray-Ban Wayfarer design, but expanded the hue options beyond the traditional palette to include patterns like checks and camouflage and colours like navy, white, turquoise, red, and blue.

Additionally, they developed a collection of multi-colored Wayfarer frames that combined colors like gold on black, white on black and red on tortoise-shell.

The strategy worked, as soon as again, cheap sunglasses online seemed to stare you inside the face each and every time you opened a fashion magazine or even a copy of individuals.

Following a 10 year hiatus, Ray-Ban was dexjpky53 again and even the initial Aviator-style, longtime linked to cops and pilots, began showing up on celebrities.

Since the Ray-Band revival took hold, other designer eyewear manufacturers took notice and attempted to rush out their versions in the classic aviator and Wayfarer.

While their efforts brought a clearly retro-flair to 2009 eyewear, the genuine article that was started way back in 1937 and epitomizes the classic sunglass style persists.